1. The professional

These are the career dog walkers: They probably have a few newbies working under them, and you bet your ass they’re all bonded and insured. They probably even pay their taxes too. And just like crazy dog people, they may very well also be a bit crazy (in a good way). These people have it together big time (they make WAY more money than you would believe.) The professional essentially looks like they just happened to be out jogging, had keys to your apartment and decided to do you a solid and run your buddy downstairs for a quick onesies and twosies.

2. The creative

Also known as “this is just my day job” or “hey sorry, running late!” The creative works as a dog walker because dogs love their laid back and approachable attitude. And these people loving walking dogs, as they’ve already worked every crappy job the workforce has to offer and cannot bear to ask another customer if they need “anything else?” Their general disdain for people makes working with animals the perfect solution. Since “taking care of self” seldom goes further than that one donation-based yoga class they made two months ago, this group is all about layers on layers, including, but not limited to:

The original

The originals are the original gangsters of dog walking. They’ve been doing it so long they actually live in the same neighborhoods as the clients they walk for — still holding it down in their rent-controlled hidden jewel somewhere on the Upper West Side. That being said, they keep it professional, usually have long-standing relationships with their dogs, often don’t like to chat too long, and if they get caught walking behind some zombie glued to their phone WE WILL ALL KNOW ABOUT IT (this is without a doubt my favorite “type” of walker.) I can’t really tell what the originals wear as most are typically wrapped in a full body-cocoon of a jacket, which doubles as a backpack, securing all 30 sets of client apartment keys.

Krissy Howard covers New York City-based dog news, along with writing in-depth features, with a love for pit bull stories. She creates humorous content for her blog thankyourodserling and her work has appeared on The Hairpin, xoJane, and a few other places on the Internet.
KrissyHoward@thisdogslife.co